Food For Thought

Things are moving quickly in the world of promotion, marketing and sales. I have barely recovered from learning about Google ad words, RSS feeds and Linkedin and now I have to figure out Twitter and Tweets. Technology is spinning fast. Hang on and enjoy the ride.

Is Technology the Answer?

Technology is a big part of the puzzle, but if we hang our hat on and rely exclusively on high tech tools and toys to drive our business we may be disappointed.

Seminar Selling…an Old Friend

I have always liked seminar selling. There is nothing high tech about it. You target some new friends, tune up your message, book a room, send an invitation, follow-up with a phone call and talk to the group at the appointed day and time. If you feed them, your response will be even better.

My Biggest Sale

In the mid-1980’s I hosted a seminar on a snowy Friday at the Holiday Inn in Grand Rapids. At the time I was selling Medical Billing Systems. The turnout was poor. Three attended. One Doctor slept through the entire presentation. I had lots of donuts left when the meeting was over. The results? The two that stayed awake were part of a computer software search team for the Michigan State University Department of Human Medicine. Friends, they purchased a medical billing system for every clinic in their network. Their referral caused the University of Wisconsin to make a similar purchase. These sales were responsible for my best year ever. The irony of the story is that I probably would not have met these people any other way.

My Biggest Save

A few years ago, a good friend of mine asked me to help him sell his Internet services to C-Level Executives at Fortune 500 Companies. I’m not sure if you have every tried to make a sales call on these men and women, but take my word for it, it is very difficult to get them on the phone, let alone book an audience with them. My friend was running out of money while being hard pressed by his board of directors to make a sale. The curtain was falling. My answer was simple. We would make the “C’s” an offer they might accept. I went on the road and hosted luncheons in most major cities at the best restaurants in town. The luncheons were reasonably well attended and because of it I landed a major contract that helped the company secure a million dollars in funding. The travel was grueling, but seminar selling was the answer for my friend and client.

Breakfast at the Coney Island Restaurant

Another good friend of mine sells point of sale (POS) computer systems to specialty retail stores. He is one of the brightest guys I know. He recently hired me to train and coach his sales staff and design programs to uncover opportunities, qualify leads and make sales. Really, who doesn’t want that? Among the problems we faced is that the retailers are hurting in this economy like everyone else. They are also hard to sell because they are busy working long hours at their stores during the day and evenings. A retail store is not an ideal venue for a sales call or a software presentation. I suggested that he host a breakfast seminar to attract prospects and to qualify leads. My idea was accepted. A venue was secured, a hard hitting message was created, and an invitation was mailed to 150 specialty retailers, followed by a phone call. To my delight, 15 retailers attended the breakfast. My friend delivered a terrific presentation and he certainly will sell point-of-sales computer systems to a handful of the attendees. Wow.

Old School Still Works

Seminar selling remains a solid tactic to attract and qualify prospects. Seminars are time tested. They do require careful strategic planning and execution and must deliver value to succeed. I strongly suggest that you consider seminars to build your business.

Tweet!